book seminar on bias and polarization

[Kevin Dorst]

Hi folks,

This semester I'll be teaching a seminar on my book manuscript on rationality, bias, and the causes of polarization.  It argues that "higher-order uncertainty" about our own beliefs can reconcile the explanatory successes of Bayesian cognitive science with many of the empirical biases made famous by psychology and behavioral economics.

Theoretically, it shows that standard ("Bayesian") models of rational beliefs implicitly assume that we know exactly what our own beliefs are—and that once we loosen that assumption, predictable biases and polarization are often perfectly rational. Empirically, it argues that the resulting models can explain many of the empirical trends around probability-weighting, hindsight bias, confirmation bias, polarization, and overconfidence.  

Readings and topics will be interdisciplinary (philosophy, psychology, economics, political science, etc.), and math will be kept to a minimum (with no knowledge presupposed).  If any of you are interested in attending some sessions, you'd be more than welcome to pop in!

The seminar meets Wednesdays 12–3pm. I've attached a draft syllabus. Here is the course website, and here is a draft of the book, if you're curious about the details.  If you'd like to be kept in the loop, you can join the email list here.  

If you have any questions, do reach out!

Thanks,

Kevin